When is taking something or someone for granted a good thing? Often, we take people, things or situations for granted when, after a period of time, we expect them to be there for us, performing expected actions, leaving us the freedom to do other things, knowing our expectations will be met.

Some of us have resisted technology because we were afraid to let go and trust that our expectations would be met. Some of us resisted because we didn’t know what to expect. We knew how to do it ourselves, with paper, pen and pencil or calculator and adding machine tape.

We figured out our budgets and paid our bills the same way we always did, for years. We wrote out the check and then entered the date, payee and amount in the paper register. Then we put the check and the bill in an envelope, addressed it, stamped it and took it to the post office to mail it. We carried that checkbook with us all the time so we could write checks at the grocery store, the dentist or the school fundraiser.

After licking envelopes on all the bills and seeing “Are you tired of licking envelopes? Pay online.” enough times, some of us were brave enough to give technology a try. Then, we went from not trusting technology to not trusting snail mail.

Start with one payee on your bank’s Bill Pay service and then before long, you have multiple bank accounts making online payments at various websites but still insist I’ll never shop online. Pretty soon, an offer arrives announcing a big sale with free shipping and now we are shopping online too. Take one online class and discover you can earn your whole degree online.

Communicating by email is convenient and quick for exchanging documents with the companies we deal with. However, it also seems to have replaced phone conversations. Now texting and social networking look like they are even replacing email as a mode of communication. We share photos, comments and blurbs but do we really bond?

Whether we are communicating with others, researching topics of interest or enjoying entertainment on a wireless laptop or hand-held device, we can do this anywhere, anytime. The internet is 24/7 and is something society takes for granted because they CAN!

If the question were “Is it wise for society to take technology for granted?” or “Could there be severe consequences for society if they take technology for granted?” there may be a little more negative outlook.

Since we have become so dependent on technology to perform some of the most basic functions in our daily lives, it would be a great hardship if we suddenly had to give it up. Sure, each day, people have meltdowns because of technology issues, yet the experts usually come through with a fix.

Even if we are aware of how much is at stake if our personal data is irretrievable one day, it’s still too difficult to go backwards. Living in fear of a dreaded loss is sometimes worse than actually losing something and then figuring out what to do about it.

If you are someone who would rather not enjoy the benefits of technology because there are no guarantees that your data will remain safe, even with insurance policies, you probably don’t realize that you are enjoying and taking technology for granted every day anyway. Are there any businesses left that do not use computers, any doctor’s office, hospital, school, government, department store or home office?

So, again, if you are wondering if society can take technology for granted, the answer is Yes, because they CAN!